Officers complain of abuse at academy

[Ian David]

By Associated Press | March 5, 2007

CHELSEA, Vt. -- William Bohnyak was in good shape when he decided to fulfill a lifelong dream to work in law enforcement and enrolled at the Vermont Police Academy.

"I was working out on my own three days a week. I had a schedule for running, weightlifting, and stretching," the recently elected Orange County sheriff said.

"When I entered the academy, I was at the graduation standard for physical conditioning."

What he wasn't prepared for were the "punitive physical exercises" including "bone-crusher" push-ups and others that he was ordered to do for infractions like failing to get a signature on a form or sitting down for dinner before being ordered to do so.

By his fourth morning at the academy in Pittsford, run by the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, Bohnyak said, he could not move his arms, his urine contained blood, and his upper body muscles were swollen.

He drove himself to the Rutland Regional Medical Center and was taken by ambulance to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, where he was diagnosed as having kidney failure and a condition marked by stressed muscle fiber.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/03/05/officers_complain_of_abuse_at_academy/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News